How To Make A Train Board

All aboard! (Can I get a choo choo?)

As promised via our little Instagram/Facebook sneak peek yesterday, here’s the story of how we made a little train board for Clara. Why a train board? Well, Clara is nothing short of obsessed with the one at Barnes & Noble (a nice big track is screwed into place on a little pedestal board and kids flock from all sides of the book store to play with it). In fact if we pull into the parking lot (which also leads to a ton of other stores) before we even turn off the car Clara is shouting “we’re getting to play with the trains!”

So when John suggested that we make our own version of one with a train set that we got for Clara’s second birthday from a few relatives of ours, I remembered seeing this one over on so I googled around for a few others to gaze at (like ). As for our specific objectives, we had a few goals in mind:

to use all of the Melissa & Doug train pieces that we already had and make a nice big track

to use solid wood if we could for the board part (just to avoid the off-gassing issue of MDF/plywood since solid whitewood is nice and light – and cheap)

to paint something fun on the surface to give Clara more play ideas (ex: the train is going to the beach, the train is going to the forest, the train is going over the water)

to paint it with low-VOC paint, seal it with low-VOC sealer, and attach the tracks with screws from beneath to avoid fumey glue (just in the same eco vein as the wood choice)

So here’s how we got ‘er done using nine dollar’s worth of sample paint from Home Depot and one plank of 12″ whitewood for $19 (also from Home Depot) – for a total of $28 spent. First John got a twelve foot long 10″ x 1″ board of whitewood and had them cut it down to make three equal 10″ x 1″ x 47″ boards right in the store. Then he joined them together with his Kreg Jig (you could also use flat bracing pieces of wood or metal along the back to connect them and add some felt pads to make sure nothing scratches the floor). Then he sanded everything to keep the board from feeling rough or splintery. See how the seams are barely visible (these arrows point them out for ya).

Next we pieced the train tracks together in about a million different configurations before finally deciding to go with this one (it has hills, an elevated part, a bridge, a tunnel, and even an area where the train will shoot down an incline and off the board – which we thought would be Clara’s favorite part):

Then we brainstormed what we thought the background should look like on a piece of paper and came up with this (the light green is grass, the blue is the ocean, the stripe next to the blue is sand, and the dark green is the forest):

Then I sketched that layout onto the board with a pencil – just marking the lines of delineation between the water, the beach, the forest, etc.

Then we ran to Home Depot and grabbed three $2.95 sample pots in Japanese Fern, Mirage Lake, and Shamrock all by Behr Ultra (which is low-VOC).

After we brought them home it was time to take the whole track apart so we could paint the background (tip: take a photo of the track configuration that you’ve landed on before dismantling it so you remember how to recreate it when you’ve painted your background). I started with the water and then I added the grass (these two don’t touch, so I didn’t have to worry about if the blue paint was still wet when I applied the green):

Oh and I didn’t prime anything because we didn’t mind this looking like painted wood (we thought a few knots showing through could be authentic and charming). But if you don’t want them to show through, a coat or two of stain-blocking primer should do the trick before you paint your design.

Then I gave that stuff a while to dry since I would be going up against the edges of those for the sand and the trees (and didn’t want things to smear) and came back a few hours later to paint the forest. That was the most fun because there’s that sort-of-bushy shape, so I made this quick video to share my weird little traingle-brush-swiping technique to make those jagged edges:

Then I added the sand, which was just leftover no-VOC white paint (we loved the idea of a white-sand beach between the ocean and the grassy plains, haha).

Then we let the whole board dry and I applied a few thin and even coats of my favorite eco poly (Acrylacq by Safecoat). We’ve had the same quart of it since before Clara was born and it’s still going strong (seriously, I can’t recommend it enough- not only is it low-VOC it’s actually non-toxic). I just brushed it on in thin and even coats, being careful not to belabor certain areas (if you brush things over and over they can get gummy, so I moved quickly across the board, let it dry, applied another coat, left that dry, and applied one last thin application).

As for why we decided to temporarily attach the tracks to the board:

at this age for Clara, putting the tracks together herself just led to frustration (crying/throwing stuff) so it wasn’t really a good time for her when things weren’t attached.

yet, we noticed how much fun she had at B&N when things were nailed down (it still led to a lot of creative, independent play with talks about trains stopping under tunnels, trains crashing, trains running out of fuel, people stopping at specific destinations, etc).

if she ever has a hankering to build her own track down the line, we can always free up this track by just removing the small screws on the underside of the board – so it’ll still be really functional and flexible for spur-of-the-moment-building if it’s detached later.

We just saw how much more fun she had at B&N with the fixed track (no tantrums or frustration of trying to make things go together, etc) so we thought a fixed track made the most sense for now. So after we gave the poly lots of drying time (48 full hours) we laid out the track on top of the newly sealed board and attached the whole thing with screws from underneath the train board. In other words, John removed the tracks one by one, drilled a pilot hole from the top of the board through to the bottom…

… and then held the track in place on top of it and screwed up to attach the track to the board from underneath).

That’s how he got the track to stay in place without looking like it’s covered in screws (using counter-sinking screws meant they sunk into the back of the board and didn’t stick out and scratch the floor). We also added felt furniture pads to keep the board from rubbing on the floor/table/ottoman if it gets lots of use.

As for the elevated part of the train, we attached those blocks to hold the track up the same way we did the rest of the track (a pilot hole through the board from above followed by a screw driven from the back of the board up into the block to hold it in place without seeing any hardware). Then to hold the track in place on top of each of those blocks, we drove a small finish nail into the groove of the track and into the block, which actually proved to be really sturdy without being super obvious (you have to get pretty close to even notice them at all).

When it came to making that one piece of track look like it led off the corner of the board, John just traced the shape of the board onto the bottom of the track, and cut it along that line that he drew (and then sanded it to make it nice and smooth). Then he just drilled that track in from below like the rest of them (he actually had already attached it, which you can see in the pic on the right, so he removed it, cut it, and drilled it back in).

Next came the big test. Holding everything upside down to make sure it was all attached. Thankfully it’s all nice and sturdy. As in, Clara has taken great joy in kicking the elevated part and it’s all holding strong.

Choo-choo, baby. Here’s the whole shebang in action:

Clara loves it. As expected, there’s lots of chatter about people going to the beach, the forest, and over the hills and valleys, and contrary to our guess – her favorite feature is actually rolling them down the middle hill and into a big pile-up. And now for a little video of our train board in action:

Sometimes she even lets us get in on the chugga-chugga action.

Are there any other train board fans out there? At first I thought making new tracks would be part of the fun, but seeing how much Clara loves the fixed one at B&N, I’m glad we made her a souped up board with a fun little background to make playing with it even more exciting. Things like adding an environment behind it and having trains shoot off the board have certainly upped the train-playing ante around here. And John may or may not have played with it a little himself after Clara went to bed last night. Not kidding.

And perhaps the best thing about it is that it’s nice and flat, so it can slide completely under the sofa for storage when it’s not in use. Here it is halfway in:

That’s actually one of the reasons we thought a board would work better for us than a table, since we used all the tracks and trains that we had to build this, so we didn’t need additional storage or anything). It’s nice that we can stash it away in a second and that seems to make it even more special for Clara (she loves things that we bring out and tuck away, like markers and Play-Doh a bit more than things that are always out at her disposal). Maybe it’s like those special “limited edition” holiday Oreos? They always feel more special than the regular kind to me. Haha.

So that’s the full $28 train board rundown. What have you guys been building/painting/sanding lately? Any fun kids stuff in the works?

She seems to love it as-is, so we have no plans to change the track around until she’s older and wants us to detach it all for good so she can make new arrangements to her heart’s content (it’s just temporarily attached to avoid her frustration at this age). But we might add some more tunnels or items on top of the board (ex: a barn to stop at, etc) in the meantime. That could be fun!

GENIUS! Great project! This is so much better than the train tables sold at the toy stores. They are high and they can’t be stored under furniture when not being used. Your version is very creative and a great solution to the other ones.

I am floored! We (Chris, too!) love this and can’t wait to make one for Greta for Christmas. We had already brainstormed getting her a train set, but I agree, keeping it together on a track feels so special. Plus, I love the idea of getting to paint a scene.

You have outdone yourselves this time. This is the sweetest train set! I know you guys love doing this kind of stuff, but Clara is going to look back and see how much you both put into her playtime. Isn’t it cool that her favorite toys are ones that you’ve made? Like the toy kitchen, dollhouse, sandbox & now the train set. I think that’s pretty neat. :)

Seriously, y’all need to definitely commit to that second career as children’s toy designers. I’d buy that in a heartbeat! But, instead, I’ll pin it to my Pinterest board and pretend like I’ll have the tools and the energy to make it myself one day. ;)

How do you guys read my mind??? So. freaky. We have been trying to find a train table/tracks for our two year old son the past 3 days. I found a great table on craigslist for $60, and even though I was first and offered to pay immediately, they sold it to somebody else who could pick it up that night. whomp whomp. We are really debating about permanently fixing the track, because it coming apart seems to be more of a distraction than encouraging free play. Then our little cave-boy devolves into throwing the tracks instead of playing nicely, like he does with the fixed track at our local toy store. Your track looks great, btw. Looks like Clara really enjoys it.

You also could just see if the tracks continue to frustrate him like they seem to now and if they do you can screw them in from beneath and then release them later (it doesn’t hurt the track at all, so you can keep them attached for a year or two until he’s in that phase of wanting to build tracks without crying/frustration and then it can be a great option to free them)! Easy peasy.

I worked at a toy store for years, and I would recommend using Suretrack to keep the track in place! It prevents kids from getting frustrated with the track coming apart, yet gives you the flexibility to rearrange the track easily!

My little boy has a train table; We like to change the tracks and formations. Is there any way you know of that will make it STICK and then easily removable when we want to use it as a lego board or something else?

My husband made an awesome train table for our son (wish I was techy enough to post photos to show you). The top of it is removable (but sits inside the frame on a little ledge). The table sits about 18-24 inches off the ground. He made it so the train track is nailed/screwed in to one side of the board, but then the whole board top can be flipped over to the plain side. We can use the bottom side for an arts and crafts table or extra seating around a table in the play area of our basement. Does that make sense?

I love the board but it makes me sad that you guys secured the track so it cant be taken down and rebuilt so she can get creative and figure out neat ways it can be placed. Im sure she loves it, but it still takes the fun out of it…like having building blocks but gluing them together so they are forever one structure.

At this age it just led to frustration (crying/throwing stuff) but if she ever has a hankering to build her own track we’re happy to unscrew these tracks from beneath to free them up for lots of new configurations! We just saw how much more fun she had at B&N with the fixed track (no tantrums or frustration of trying to make things go together, etc) so we went for it :)

Wait….the whole point of a train set to to actually assemble the tracks, re-arrange, imagine ALL the possibilities, etc. By screwing it down, you’ve completly shot down her ability to imagine the track set up in any other way! You could have easily made her the board and then let her set up the tracks on her own (or with your help)so that each time is a dfferent set-up. A great idea, but you should have skipped the screws.

At this age it just led to frustration (crying/throwing stuff) but if she ever has a hankering to build her own track we’re happy to unscrew these tracks from beneath to free them up for lots of new configurations! We just saw how much more fun she had at B&N with the fixed track (no tantrums or frustration of trying to make things go together, etc) so we went for it :)

yeah, that’s my take on the train thing too. There’s a reason they are flexible in set up, and that’s to make them flexible in setup

Our kids loved the built up train sets, but at home, from the age of 2 on, it was full time building, imagining, creating. Our train tracks (We got them from IKEA, about three sets) snaked around the living room, onto the stairs, onto piles of books, doubled hills, through and around each other. And every night they were taken down, with a completely different incarnation the next day.

Great learning about spatial things, and also great fun. For our eldest, it was the buildng that mattered most. He started at ca. 18 months at his daycare and didn’t stop until he turned 6. Every single day he’d be designing new set ups. And for the first year, we’d often be designing them with him (until he got better than us!)

Our younger son was all about the stories we could tell, and the places to visit on the tracks. HE combined it with his dinky cars and playmobil and made a whole world of adventure.

Oh yes, that’s why we love that the screws are removable from the underside of the board (they’re just temporary since she seems to love fixed tracks for now). When Clara’s ready to reconfigure things – and actually has fun instead of crying out of frustration, haha – she can play around with new layouts and routes for sure :)

“Most” children in this age bracket are not yet capable of re-configuring the tracks and therefore they choose not to play with them because of the frustration it leads to. It was the same way for my son…and yet every time he came across a stationary set he wanted to stay for hours. There was no lack of creativity or imagination used just because the tracks themselves were glued down. When Clara is ready, her parents will know…in the meantime, she will have tons of fun playing with this set (screwed in and all)!

As pre-school teacher I would definately agree that some kids at this age like being able to reconfigure but that mostly it leads to frustration. To be able to use their imangination in creating stories is the point of the table and it looks like Clara is doing just fine. Every child is different and boys are different than girls. My boy wanted to build it so he could knock it down, my girl wanted to make up a story. Generally parents know their kids and what they enjoy.

Love that you can stash it under the table with no messy tracks/pieces everywhere. This is perfect!

We had tonnnnns of tracks and used to recreate them into different configurations. For older kids, you might want to replace the cut off track at a later date with the connecting piece (and a lift so it goes to floor level) so she can extend the track of the board and make more designs. We used to take over our living room with them!

My dad has always loved trains, so when I was a kid he had a huge electric train board. I even remember going to the Expo Center for a train show, where there were all kinds of electric trains! Clara looks like she is having SO much fun. What a neat project!

LOVE that we started following you looking at Clara’s nursery while we were pregnant too! So many times you are doing what we are thinking about doing in a couple months! Our little man is turning TWO this month and we’ve been dying to get him a train table. LOVE this one! I think we may have to whip it up this week for the little man.

It is darling! Yes, I agree … at her age, the moveable tracks are frustrating. My little one (two this month) likes the B&N tracks too; I think its more fun for him to just concentrate on the driving than the building.

That’s so cute! I think my daughter’s ‘train table’ which had storage and a flip side of lego-like board, and all the pieces, was a steal for $40 at Costco. It even had people and trees and road signs and such. Clara might like some landscape-able pieces like that.

At this age it just led to frustration (crying/throwing stuff) but if she ever has a hankering to build her own track we’re happy to unscrew these tracks from beneath to free them up for lots of new configurations! We just saw how much more fun she had at B&N with the fixed track (no tantrums or frustration of trying to make things go together, etc) so we went for it :)

great idea!!! We actually packed up our train set that we got for our daughter because the pieces never stayed on and the thought of adding another huge table to our cramped house was unbearable! I can totally see us dong the same thing and storing it under the couch. thanks for being so smart and figuring this one out! (I am telling ya…second book idea…”YHL-DIY kid toys/spaces!!!!”) I will preorder mine now!

Love the train board. We didn’t make our own, however, we did stalk Craigslist for weeks looking for an amazing deal just before the holidays. My son and daughter couldn’t have been happier. As to your color choices. I love ‘Japanese Fern’. I chose the very same color as an accent to some tables on my screened porch. Keep up the great work!

That’s Awesome. I think I need to do something similar. We have a train table and it doesn’t get used much, so it’s just taking up precious space. Might make it more special if it’s something that’s not out all the time either. :)